Alabama transfer Maurice Smith NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 01: Maurice Smith #21 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates a stop in the first half against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the All State Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 1, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Former Alabama defensive back Maurice Smith made the decision to transfer out of Alabama’s football program this offseason. Once he made the decision to leave the Crimson Tide, he had his personal belongings thrown in the trash and was exiled from the facilities while still on campus, according to Smith.

Smith wishes to transfer to Georgia, where he would be coached by former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, but Nick Saban and Alabama are blocking that transfer because Georgia is another SEC school. Coaches blocking transfers is nothing new in college football, as infuriating as it may be, and because a player agrees to a scholarship, they continue to yield such power to their coaches who can sometimes overstep their moral authority in such situations. Saban has stood on his decision to not allow Smith a chance to move to Georgia, but the details Smith has provided paint an even uglier picture to the situation he has gone through.

A day after meeting with Saban to inform his coach about his intent to transfer and being told he would not be allowed to transfer to another SEC school, Smith arrived at the athletic facility only to find his locker had been cleaned out and his personal belongings had been thrown in the trash. Per Dawg Nation

“On Friday, June 17, I arrived at the athletic facility locker room to find my locker cleaned out and all of my personal belongings in the trash (photo attached) underneath trash,” Maurice Smith wrote. “These personal items included my family photos, written goals, inspirational and sentimental items memorializing my deceased former friend, roommate and teammate, Altee Tenpenny, and items of personal value from my former teammates.”

Smith included a copy of a text sent to him by an undisclosed person reading “Bro I can’t have u at facility. Not for workout, lunch, anything. All in or out policy.” It also remains unknown just who tossed Smith’s property — including photos and inspirational materials — in the trash.

While it certainly does not look good for Alabama’s program and their suggested “all in or out policy,” it is not entirely unfair to suggest Smith made the decision to leave the program and therefore should not have expected to be able to make use of the same amenities players on the team have.

That said, it would have been nice to at least give him the opportunity to clean out his own locker, rather than have him show up one day and find somebody did it for him in a rough and disrespectful manner. It also should have been known to Smith by Saban that he would no longer be able to access football facilities as he decided to transfer, if that indeed is the policy.

Smith’s family believes Alabama is holding firm on their transfer decision in order to drag out the process and end up keeping Smith in Tuscaloosa. He still wants to go to Georgia, which is why he is appealing the decision. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail here and let Smith do what he feels is best for him, individually, instead of yielding to the hammer of Saban’s rule.

After going through all of this, would Smith even want to stick around?

[Dawg Nation]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.